Eve relishes Gold Cup test, appeals for corporate help

DAVID SCARLETT

HEAD Coach of the Trinidad and Tobago men's football team Angus Eve has expressed his delight and relief to have earned automatic qualification to this year’s Concacaf Gold Cup in the US.

TT's advancement comes at the expense of Nicaragua, who were disqualified after a Concacaf investigation into the eligibility of one of the team’s players, Richard Rodriguez

Concacaf announced Nicaragua's Gold Cup expulsion on Monday, adding that they were also demoted to League B of the Concacaf Nations League.

Born in Uruguay, Rodriguez was not deemed to be a naturalised citizen by FIFA, yet the midfielder made 19 appearances for Nicaragua, which included several matches in the Concacaf Nations League.

He made a substitute appearance against TT on June 3, 2022, a match that Nicaragua won 2-1 at home. The FIFA Normalisation Committee, which currently administers the TT Football Association (TTFA), discovered Nicaragua’s foul play and appealed to the region’s governing body.

Concacaf's Disciplinary Committee made the decision to axe the Central Americans "for severe violation to the applicable FIFA/Concacaf regulations by fielding an ineligible player in multiple matches of Concacaf competitions.”

TT are now placed in Group A of the Gold Cup alongside Jamaica, USA, and one of Curaçao/St Kitts & Nevis/French Guiana/St Maarten who are to be determined by the prelims.

Antigua and Barbuda – the team with the highest points in League B of the 2022/23 Nations League not to advance – will now face Guadeloupe in Gold Cup qualification on Friday.

The Soca Warriors' promotion to League A of the Nations League keeps alive the opportunity to qualify for the 2024 Copa America, to be hosted by the US.

Eve expressed his joy in making it over the line. He said, “I don’t really have (much) words. When we started the Nations League, the objective was to qualify for the Gold Cup proper and also to qualify for League A (of the Nations League), which would have given us automatic qualification for the Gold Cup, the opportunity to qualify for the Conmebol (Copa) and be in a better position for World Cup qualifiers.

“It was a bit deflating when we drew the (last Nations League) match in Tobago. But to get the news that we didn’t do anything wrong… credit to the normalisation committee.”

He said Normalisation Committee chairman Robert Hadad informed the team while they were having dinner in Florida.

"It’s a feeling of contentment and this goes to show that, when you do the right things, the right things will happen for you.”

Noting the difficult challenge facing USA and Jamaica, Eve said the hard work that was put in by the team was rewarded with more hard work. He added that TT relished the opportunity.

He also pleaded for the top local businesses to assist the team in their international ventures. “Corporate Trinidad has to come on board. We need help. It can’t just be the national team staff and the normalisation committee. This is a project for a country.”

He noted the logistical conundrum caused by the Concacaf disciplinary decision.

“We were only set to play two days here (in Fort Lauderdale), now our first game is on the 25th, which is 13 days away. So we have to pay hotel accommodation for 30-odd people, organise practice fields and there’s a lot of logistics to be done behind the scenes. Hotel rooms are not cheap. So we now have to put a contingency plan in place.

“We (also) don’t know if some of the clubs will want back their players back in the short term. (Nevertheless), the general feeling is one of great content and achievement for attaining something like this for our country.”

TT will open their Gold Cup campaign on June 25 against the preliminary round winner – Curaçao, St Kitts & Nevis, French Guiana or St Maarten – at 3:30pm TT time. That would then be followed by a Caribbean derby against Jamaica on June 28 and the Warriors’ group stage run will be concluded against the US on July 2.